The Service-Charge Toolkit
Worth knowing before you start: when service charges were tested at tribunal in 2025, more than 63% were found to include overcharging — across all 238 published First-tier Tribunal service-charge judgments analysed by the Social Housing Action Campaign (shaction.org, February 2026). Tribunal-tested cases only; it says nothing about the charges nobody ever challenges — which is rather the point of the letter below.
Greyledger — free edition. Verified against the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 as in force, July 2026. This is information, not legal advice.
Part 1 — Letter template: request your service-charge accounts
Your landlord is required by law to show you what sits behind your service charge. Section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 gives you the right to a written summary of the costs; section 22 gives you the right to inspect the invoices and receipts behind that summary. This letter exercises the first right and puts the second on notice.
Send it by post (keep a copy) or email with delivery receipt, addressed to your landlord or managing agent as named on your demand.
[Your name]
[Your address, including flat number]
[Date]
To: [Landlord / managing agent name and address, as shown on your service-charge demand]
Re: [Property address] — Request for summary of relevant costs under section 21, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
Dear Sirs,
I am the leaseholder of the above property and I write pursuant to section 21 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985.
I require you to supply me with a written summary of the costs incurred in respect of the service charges payable for the property for the last accounting period ending before the date of this request.
I remind you of the following requirements of the Act:
1. The summary must distinguish between costs for which no demand for payment was received by you, costs for which a demand was received but no payment made in the period, and costs for which payment was made in the period (section 21(5)).
2. Where the costs are payable by the tenants of more than four dwellings, the summary must be certified in accordance with section 21(6) by a qualified accountant within the meaning of section 28 of the Act, who must be independent of you and of your managing agents.
3. The summary must be supplied within one month of this request, or within six months of the end of the relevant accounting period, whichever is the later.
Please note that on receiving the summary I may exercise my right under section 22 of the Act to inspect the accounts, receipts and other documents supporting it. Should I do so, you are required to make facilities for inspection available free of charge within one month of that request, and to keep them available for two months.
Failure to comply with either section without reasonable excuse is a summary criminal offence under section 25 of the Act, carrying a fine at level 4 on the standard scale.
Please acknowledge receipt of this letter in writing.
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Name]
Notes on using the letter
- The inspection itself must be free. The landlord may make a reasonable charge for photocopies, so photograph documents where permitted rather than ordering copies.
- If a recognised tenants' association exists for your building, its secretary can make the same request on behalf of members.
- Keep everything: the demand, this letter, proof of sending, and any reply. If matters reach a tribunal, the paper trail is half the case.
Part 2 — The 10-point overcharge checklist
Work through these against your demand, your lease and (once you have it) the section 21 summary. Each one is a recognised ground on which leaseholders succeed at tribunal.
1. Is the prescribed summary of rights attached?
Every service-charge demand must be accompanied by a summary of your rights and obligations in the exact form prescribed by regulations (s.21B LTA 1985; SI 2007/1257). Paraphrased or missing wording makes the demand defective, and you may withhold payment until a compliant demand is served.
2. Are any costs more than 18 months old?
You are not liable for costs incurred more than 18 months before the demand, unless you were notified in writing within that 18-month window that the costs had been incurred and you would be asked to contribute (s.20B). Late notification after the window does not rescue the charge.
3. Major works over £250 per leaseholder — were you consulted?
If any leaseholder's share of works exceeds £250, the landlord must have followed the statutory consultation procedure (s.20). If not, recovery is capped at £250 per leaseholder regardless of the actual cost, unless a tribunal grants dispensation.
4. Long-term contracts over £100 per year — were you consulted?
The same applies to qualifying long-term agreements (contracts over 12 months) costing any leaseholder more than £100 in a year. No consultation caps recovery at £100 per leaseholder per year.
5. Does your lease actually permit each charge?
The landlord can only recover what the lease allows. Compare every line of the demand against the service-charge clauses. Items with no basis in the lease are not recoverable at all, however reasonable the cost.
6. Is the management fee out of line?
Management fees are frequently reduced at tribunal, particularly where they are calculated as a percentage of spend (an incentive to spend more) or have grown faster than the service provided. Tribunals compare against market norms.
7. Insurance: any sign of commission or mark-up?
Sharp premium increases, no evidence of broker tendering, or a landlord placing insurance through connected companies are classic signs of hidden commission. Undisclosed commissions have been held unreasonable under s.19.
8. Reserve fund: collected for one thing, spent on another?
Check whether money collected into a reserve or sinking fund was applied to its stated purpose, and whether major-works demands were issued without first drawing down funds already collected for those works.
9. Were the works reasonable, and done to a reasonable standard?
Costs are only recoverable to the extent reasonably incurred, and works only if of a reasonable standard (s.19). No competitive tender, defective workmanship, unnecessary works, or gold-plated specification all ground a challenge — evidence such as comparator quotes helps.
10. Is your apportionment right?
Check your percentage against what the lease specifies, and where possible whether all flats' percentages sum to no more than 100%. Errors here repeat year after year until challenged.
If the checklist finds problems
- Paying does not bar you. Charges already paid can still be challenged; payment alone is not agreement (s.27A(5)). There is no fixed statutory time limit for applying, but the longer the delay the greater the risk, so act promptly.
- The tribunal route. The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) determines whether a service charge is payable and in what amount (s.27A) — the form is "Leasehold 3". It is designed for leaseholders without lawyers, and each side normally bears its own costs. The application fee is £100 until 12 July 2026; from 13 July 2026 it is £114, with a £227 hearing fee.
- Block the landlord's legal costs. In any tribunal case, apply under s.20C LTA 1985 (and paragraph 5A of Schedule 11, CLRA 2002) to stop the landlord recovering its litigation costs back through your service charge. These are separate applications and can be made together.
Prepared by Greyledger. Every statutory reference above was verified against current law in July 2026. If you want your specific demand checked line by line against your lease, the fixed-fee review is £149 — start it here (secure card payment via Stripe), or read more at greyledger.co.uk/service-charge